


A Boy & His God-Dog

by OKFandom



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-10
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2019-01-10 00:28:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12287397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OKFandom/pseuds/OKFandom
Summary: The bond between a boy and his dog is unbreakable.





	A Boy & His God-Dog

**Author's Note:**

> Cave Troll Theory fanfiction prize for samurotttt on [our tumblr](https://ok-fandom.tumblr.com/).
> 
> Sorry it's so late, but as our updates have told, life's been hell.

The wailing of alarms shattered the usual eerie silence of Aether labs, security thrown into high-alert. It felt like the entire security system had been set off, and for good reason – an experiment had escaped. The only thing louder than the blaring was the blood rushing through Gladion’s ears as he tried to get Type: Null to _move_ , already, but the synthetic Pokémon just _couldn’t_. The outside of its cage, the cold of the tile floor, the lights, the sound– too much was happening, too much all at once, the intense sensory overload overriding even the flight aspect of its fight-or-flight reaction.

Miraculously, Gladion managed to haul Type: Null off to the side, into the safety of a small niche as a group of Aether employees stormed past unaware. His companion was panicking; if they wanted to have any chance of getting out, _both_ of them needed to be calm. With a gentle, but firm, grip on the weird mask-thing the Pokémon had been fitted with, the blond forced it to meet his face.

“Hey. _Hey_ –” Eye contact was established, though the Pokémon’s eyes flickered away a few times, at first. “I’m with you, okay? I’m your friend. You’re with your _friend_. You’re gonna be okay.”

It took a moment, but Type: Null finally met Gladion’s gaze, its breath hitching as it remembered.

\- {

Gladion knew, knew, _knew_ that there were Pokémon in the labs, no matter what his mother said to the contrary. Thing is, he’d been expecting an assortment of what he’d seen in the sanctuary area, like Corsola, or Slowpoke, or something. Instead, there was just this…one weird Pokémon, locked up behind heavy bars.

It’d taken some coaxing, and some patience, but the boy was finally able to convince it to approach the edge of its cage. He…couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Steel-type? Flying-type? It looked like it had a fin – maybe a water-type? Whatever it was, it wound up pressing itself against the bars to get closer as Gladion pet it.

That initial meeting soon prompted another visit, and then a third, and a fourth. As the secret visits progressed, Gladion took to smuggling in Pokébeans and other treats with him. The strange Pokémon, whose name he’d gathered by eavesdropping to be “Type: Full”, took to the food almost as gleefully as it had the petting. It seemed to like chin scratches the best, a fact Gladion made sure to remember each time.

Of course, this small mercy couldn’t go undetected _forever_. Gladion had been able to tune out Faba’s scolding after the first ten minutes after being hauled out of the room, more worried about the panic he’d seen Type: Full going into as the door slid shut – but Faba was soon replaced by _Mother_ , and there was no way on earth to tune out _that_ shrieking. It was still, arguably, not as chilling as when he finally made it back in, only to discover Type: Full missing from its cage.

“A rampage” is the most he could glean from his eavesdropping; the caged Pokémon had gone berserk after seeing him get dragged away. Tracking it down again was a _pain_ , having to contend with an even higher security level _and_ an upset Faba, to boot. He’d had a moment of blank panic himself upon finally locating it – when they’d mentioned that it’d been “iced,” they _really meant it_!

It was…horrifying, to put it bluntly, staring into those frosted-over eyes, usually so focused and curious. It was wrong. Bad. He needed to get the Pokémon out of there. The storage unit label read Type: _Null_ , too – like _that_ was going to unturn his stomach. What had they _done_?!

The situation wasn’t fatal, thank goodness. Type: Fu– _Null_ was out of it, at first, but the security alarms suddenly blaring had been enough to snap it into some semblance of awareness. Even then, though, Gladion had to all but drag it along as they made their escape, the Pokémon stumbling forward on still-defrosting legs as they ran.

} -

That all had led the duo to this point, hiding just out of sight as what felt like half of the Aether workforce was hunting them down. Type: Null could feel itself calming down as its memories caught up with it, breathing evening out in time with the hand petting its mask. This human was good; was its _friend_. The frankensteined Pokémon gave a whine as it leaned into Gladion’s touch.

“…alright.” Gladion said at length, finally drawing his hand away. A Pokéball – the _only_ Pokéball he’d managed to smuggle into Aether, at that – quickly replaced it. “If we’re going to get out, you’ll have to get into one more cage. But this one you can get out of anytime, okay?”

Type: Null’s gaze shifted from the device to the boy, then back to the device again. It was hesitant, but its eyes stayed calm as it nodded, letting Gladion tap the button against its mask. A flash of light and a few seconds later, the Pokéball gave off a satisfying click, signifying a successful capture. Gladion slipped the capture device into his jacket pocket, zipping it up before gingerly peering around the hallway. The flash from the capture had gone unnoticed, thank goodness – the coast was clear!

It wasn’t too tricky to sneak his way down to the docking area, once Type: Null was safely hidden in his jacket, and onto the first ship leaving Aether, the tourists remaining unaware of the machinations taking place just beneath their feet.

He later learned from Lillie that Aether had implemented a Pokéball-jamming frequency throughout the base, right after he and Type: Null had made their escape. They hadn’t wanted to risk the other two Type: Null they’d put in indefinite containment getting stolen the same way. (Not like that was going to stop Gladion from going back for them one day.)

-

It was while training hard with Type: Null to face off against that kid from Melemele – one last time, he was sure, they were going to _win_ this time – when a loud **_crack_** interrupted the training session. Gladion could only watch, amazed, as the mask began to break off, and a bright light engulfed his closest friend.

The mask gave way to large, white plumes, still vibrant after so much time spent being confined. Type: Null (but _was_ it still Type: Null?) looked over at him in confusion, seeming for all the world to be just as surprised as he was. The shock quickly dissipated into joy as the Pokémon bounded over to its trainer, all but tackling him as it licked a clean stripe up the side of his face, drawing a startled laugh out of Gladion.

This was another step forward, that was for sure. There was no way they would lose now! As long as they were together.

_FIN_


End file.
